Martyn Joseph – setting new standards in emotion and eloquence.

Release Date: 12th January 2024

Label: Pipe Records

Format: CD / digital

A musician whose raison d’etre has always been about saying what he wants to say, This Is What I Want To Say proves a bold title but does exactly what it says on the tin. As always. It’s a record of songs by a musician and a man whose recent life experiences have fed his muse in a way like never before.

The arrangements are minimal, less is certainly more. Perhaps Martyn has been listening to Nebraska lately. Subtle and low-key with an emphasis on the soft accompaniment of the acoustic guitar that occasionally takes the spotlight to display the underrated skill and dexterity that lies in those hands. The decorative use of strings – Liz Hanks on cello – adds a melancholy mood to selected moments, notably on the widescreen vision of Waiting For The Rain that conveys a country-tinged hue; the words of poet Patrick Jones worked in with several references to the landmarks of Wales whilst addressing the plight of exiles and refugees.

Having jumped in at the deep end by highlighting a song that’s surely set to take its place as one of the major songs in the MJ legacy, the collection comes built on a couple of familiar numbers revealed over the past twelve or so months. Albert’s Place, justifiably lauded via the media attention, alongside the almost shocking starkness of Take You Out that we witnessed at Cropredy in 2022 deliver two very tasty teasers and tease the potential of the current bout of MJ songwriting.

Ram packed with poignancy and a strangely uplifting weariness, there’s the expected combination of defiance and optimism as Folding – check the video below – sets the tone with toes twitching at an emotional clifftop. “The grandeur and the carnage of these days” sees a vocal clutching at the very edge – the voice seemingly about to break (I’m sure Martyn won’t mind us mentioning Springsteen’s Blood Brothers from New York in 2000). It’s a significant and stirring introduction with an acknowledgment, perhaps in mortality, that “Ours is not to bargain with the divine.“

Like a prime Dylan album, major tracks begin to surface – Grateful is a particular favourite in the Lennonesque way the lyric unfolds. On stage this could abandon any restraint and take on a towering delivery as Martyn brims with the hellfire passion of an inspirational preacher.

After a first half that’s hard to follow, Take Me To Love sets off on the return journey with a fragility that’s matched with some fine picking on Don’t Need No Cathedral. The chilled mood in no way waters down the insight and impact. It’s A Fine Thing contains trademark MJ – check the verse that reinforces the “may your hope never fade or lie in the shadows for long” line. Written for the wedding of one of his children, the deeply personal message is comfortably carried far and beyond.

An epilogue vignette of Without You brings closure whilst nailing the mantra to the mast. “I try to make sure we always end up together in the same space – a place of hope and community,” says Martyn. Like that fine wine, This Is What I Want To Say is Martyn Joseph improving with age. If we were able to express our thoughts about the quality of this set half as eloquently as Martyn Joseph does in his music, it would be a job well done. The words, music and songs might be rich and mellow but observations are made with pin-sharp precision and with the experience of so many roads travelled, so many rivers crossed. He’s the arch purveyor of music that retains a potency but always with light and hope.

Here’s Folding:

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